ICC World Test Championship: Five areas of concern for No. 1 ranked India

The Indian team received another jolt in their New Zealand sojourn after losing the Test series rather meekly 0-2 to the hosts . More than the loss, it is how the top ranked team capitulated against the Kiwis will psychologically affect their moral. Besides it has also posed a question mark on the team’s credibility as the top contenders to win the next year’s ICC World Test Championship final.

That’s why it is necessary to analyze the recent success of the Indian Test team and by doing so some interesting things have come to light. Though Virat Kohli’s troops have been winning the Test championship mace from the last three years, the team is yet to become a world-beating side.

The following are the issues that have stopped the No. 1 ranked Test side from earning their place among the greats, and most of them flared up in New Zealand.

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#1 Batting unit being over dependent on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli's failure coincided with India's series defeat against the Kiwis

In a way, it is true that the likes of Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been shouldering the batting responsibilities of the Test team for some time now. Like their seniors, these players have also played a key role in making India a dominant force in the Test arena.

Having said that, there are certain areas where the current crop needs to improve. Starting from the skipper himself, he needs to trust his players and their skillset. Also, it is quiet evident that the team looks better and they start performing better when Kohli scores big. When he failed right through the tour to New Zealand, the results were for all to see, 0-3 in the ODIs and 0-2 in the Tests.

Also see – RCB 2020 team

When will this change for India?

Their reign in the ICC Test Championship needs the other senior batsmen also to step up apart from only the captain. They would need the likes of Pujara and Rahane who are Test match specialists to play fittingly as they weren't at their best in New Zealand against a skilful bowling attack.

#2 Uncertainty over opening combinations

Should India stick to Prithvi Shaw as the opener after Rohit Sharma comes back

Unfortunately, very few teams these days have the luxury of quality Test openers. Even India has been facing opening conundrums in the last year or so. The team has tried out as many as 8 opening combinations in the last 20 outings. Though some of them are forced ones owing to injuries to key players the team management cannot deny that they are yet to find a stable pair at the top.

In particular, the team has struggled with their opening combinations in away Tests which is here the real character of openers are put to test. In the last three overseas series, only a single half-century partnership is provided by the first-wicket pair. Besides the only openers to cross the 50-run mark in this period are Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal. From these numbers, it is clear that the opening woes continue to haunt the Indian team.

Shaw looked promising in his return to the Test team but his manner of dismissals in both Tests posed some questions over his technique. Thus the openers slot is something that needs to be sorted out. Will the return of Rohit Sharma into the fold sort things out? Or will the team management stick to Shaw and Agarwal at the top for longer?

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#3 Not learning lessons from past mistakes

India's pacers inability to get the tailenders out early is still an unsolved issue

This Indian Test team has been committing the same mistakes over and over again in the SENA countries. The most common one being the bowling’s unit baffling approach against lower-order batsmen. In the last 9 lost Test matches across SENA countries, the bowling attack has conceded 98 runs on average while accounting for the final 4 wickets.

The other slip-up which has not been discussed much in the cricketing circle is the team’s inability to tackle new-ball on the first day morning of a Test match. There have been five instances where the team has lost half of their side for less than 100 runs in the last couple of years.

Besides, the team has always conceded slender leads in away games when they are near to the first innings total of opposition which has eventually come to haunt them in the final outcome of the game.

#4 Inconsistencies in team selection

Leaving out Wridhiman Saha was a baffling decision

The depth in this Indian Test squad is also quite remarkable. That’s why the cricketing fraternity is always expecting big things whenever Virat Kohli and his men are involved in a high-profile series. Sadly they have not lived up to their billing in important tournaments. The primary reason being the team management and skipper’s extensive focus on playing combinations.

Most of the time, the team selection has been done based on numbers and records. While following such processes, the team has also not thought twice before dropping established players from the playing XI.

It can also be validated from the recent exclusion of first choice Test wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja to include Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin in the first Test against New Zealand. Even after playing consistent cricket for the last year or so, both were dropped owing to their poor outings in the lone practice match.

Saha who has been considered the best wicket-keeper by the team made way for Pant because of his batting superiority. While Jadeja replaced Ashwin in the second Test, it was surprising to see Pant given a second chance only for him not to contribute much as either a wicket-keeper or batsman.

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#5 Over reliance on star players

New Zealand v India - Second Test: Day 2

Barring a couple of prominent series losses the team has done exceedingly well in Virat Kohli’s leadership. Notably, the maiden ODI series win in South Africa and the Test series win in Australia are a couple of golden feathers in the Indian cap.

However, having a close look at their success one can easily point out a disturbing pattern. The team has been enjoying a chain of one-man shows. In simple terms, the individual brilliance of stars like Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rohit has overshadowed the team’s underlying problems.

To be precise the above trio has shared 16 Man of the Match awards among themselves in the last 30 successful games for India across formats. These numbers suggest that India is overtly dependent on their star players. Especially on their tour of New Zealand, they suffered from Bumrah's current lean run of form.

It goes to show how the performance of the best or one of the world's best bowler can do for the team's success. Bumrah looked far from his best in the Test series and the Kiwis were smart enough to capitalize on that and win the series convincingly.